Back into the winter groove

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BY: Niall Frost

Published: 16th November, 2010

Well, it has got to that time of year again, getting colder and colder and with no evenings to speak of means only one thing.  Time to get back on the bike and get riding again.

I've been lucky (I use this word loosely) towards the end of the season this year as I have had a fair amount of time off the bike.  A virus mid season, a busy period at work then followed by my bikes being stolen meant that I did lose a bit of motivation to push through training.  This all means that like Ivan Basso, I can crack on with winter training well before my traditional birthday starting date.

The focus for this period up to christmas is to get back into the training routine and use the weekends to build up some mileage.  I've already managed a few 4hr road rides, one of which was on my fixed wheel.  Much to the consternation of my local club run who all kept well clear of me for fear that I wouldn't be able to stop.  No faith obviously!  The roads round me can be really bleak (see below) but there is no shortage of hills for me to try and avoid.  (I'll address that particular issue later in the year.....)



I'm also riding my mtb now and again to keep my technique in check and make sure I remember what its like to slide around and jump over things.  I've been riding the excellent Stainburn trails on my rigid singlespeed which has caused a few raised eyebrows from the full face DH riders.  I recently spent a whole afternoon riding all the north shore sections and sessioning the black route.  Perhaps not the best aerobic exercise but it sure was entertaining triding to ride see-saws and rock gardens with saddle in xc mode and rigid fork flexing all over the shop.  Also smashing 32:16 up every hill in sight is a great strength workout.



In between times I'm fitting in some roller sessions, perfect for exercising my dodgy music collection where no-one else can listen in.  I much prefer rollers to a turbo, so much more realistic pedalling and you can still get a decent resistance workout using the gears, or brakes if you're really masochistic.

I'm off the lake district this wekeend for a weekends road riding, last year we had sub-freezing temperatures and given the ice covered car this morning I think we'll be in for more of the same this year.  Still, 3 back to back base rides should stretch the legs nicely.  Not to mention the multiple coffee stop opportunities!

Happy riding.
Niall
Xcracers.com/29ers

Thanks to Gary Fisher, Accelerade and Exposure Lights for their support this year.